Woman pleads guilty in Craigslist murder-for-hire

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A Michigan woman who advertised online for a hitman to kill her lover's wife pleaded guilty to the murder-for-hire scheme, prosecutors said on Friday.

Anne Marie Linscott, 49, faces 10 years in prison for each of three federal charges, including intent to commit murder, the U.S. Attorneys for the Western District of Michigan and the Eastern District of California said in a joint statement.

In November 2007, three California residents searching job listings on Craigslist.com found an advertisement for a "freelance" position posted by Linscott, according to court documents. The three job seekers contacted California police.

The defendant asked two of the respondents via e-mail to "eradicate" the victim and provided the victim's name, age and employment address. In one correspondence, she said she was looking for "silent assassins" and offered to pay $5,000 to kill the victim, who was not identified by the court.

"This IS a serious proposition," Linscott said via e-mail. Her account name was "bourne2run."

Linscott, a resident of Rockford, Michigan, met her lover while taking an online college course several years ago. Linscott and the man, identified in court documents only as Duane, carried on a sexual affair, meeting in Reno, Nevada, in 2005 and 2007. They spoke on the phone and corresponded by e-mail, filings said.

As part of a plea deal between the government and Linscott, prosecutors agreed to drop charges she had left an incendiary device outside her rival's house in April 2007.

Sentencing has yet to be scheduled.

(Reporting by Eric Auchard)